The Guardian Crusade

                                           Volume II

                                                       Chapter 24

Rayne’s eyes slowly opened the clouds above her slowly rolled by.  It took her a minute to get her bearings as she sat up and looked around.  She saw she wasn’t in Sarila anymore but in Winnol.

“Hello” A voice said from behind her and she turned around.  She gasped as she saw the semi transparent image of herself looking back at her.  “Looking for something?” She asked, almost like a barmaid, or a business man waiting to take her order.

“I do not know.” Rayne replied a little confused.

“Well you are here, so you must be looking for something.” She told herself.

“Why am I in Winnol? I am supposed to be home.” Rayne said looking around.

“But you are at home...” She said tilting her head a little.

“Winnol is not my home Sarila is.” Rayne said looking back at herself.

“Well your home is where Alex is and Alex lives here.” She said. “You prefer living in Winnol because you can sense him even when he’s not there.”

“You remember Alex?” Rayne said and a small smile crossed her face.

“Of course.” She said and then her face frowned.  “You lost Alex.”

“No.” Rayne said shaking her head.  “I mean maybe, I do not know, I do not remember him.”

“You do not remember Alex?” She said almost gasping.

“Stop repeating me!” Rayne said annoyed.

“I am sorry but if you can forget Alex, who knows what else you will forget.” She scoffed.  “Come with me then.” She told herself as she turned around and started walking towards the tree castle.

“It was not my fault, forgetting him.” Rayne said after a moment of walking behind her.  “Rexil, she took my memory of him.”

“Rexil, that old hag.” She sighed.  “I am not surprised; she hated Alex more than she hated us.”

“Really?” Rayne said a little shocked.

“Oh yes.” She nodded.  “Imagine how angry an Elvaan loving us would make her or the fact her King was or use to be Human.”

“Did we…I mean did I love him?” Rayne asked.

“More than anything”

“I do not see how my love for him would have been stronger than my love for his brother.” Rayne said as the girls walked through the city.

“Dyn!” She said spinning around.  “Dyn was an evil angry person, he did not love us and maybe we did love him but Alex is so much more than his brother.”

“He…is?” Rayne said surprised by her own reaction.

“Come.” She said as she nodded her head.  Rayne watched as her image walked further down the street.  She had to jog a little to catch up to her when she had realized she should follow. 

“Where are we going?” Rayne asked herself as they walked down the empty Winnol Streets.  Her image didn’t say anything as she turned down another street and as Rayne looked around she realized they were heading to the Springs. 

“Why are we going to the Healing Springs?” Rayne asked but her image said nothing, just lifted her hand and motioned for her to follow.

When they walked in Rayne was stunned to see no one around.  Usually there were Priests walking around from cave to cave.  Her image stopped in the middle of the open area and turned to face her.

“I know this place all too well, why are we here?” Rayne asked but before her image said anything and Rayne wasn’t even sure she was going too, the chatter and yelling of men behind her distracted both of them.

“We have been trying to bring her back since we got to her in the Castle.” A Priest said to Kel’Ryn the Elder Priest as they walked through the entrance.

“Where is she now?” KelR’yn asked.

“In that cave there.” The Priest said as he pointed to the stone opening.

“Who is in there?” Rayne asked herself.

“We are.” She replied.  Well were.”

“When was this?” Rayne asked.

“After you brought back Alexander’s friends.” She said.  “Forgot that too?” Rayne could only nod.  “Rexil, she was in our mind, toying with us, made us look like we had lost our minds.  We had to try; we knew she was going to hurt us, so we had to try.”

“Why? Why did we do it?” Rayne asked not bothering to correct herself.

“So Alex would not be alone.” She said as she looked at the cave door.  The sound of more people running through the entrance stopped anymore questions Rayne had. 

Watching as AJ walked right past her as he walked over to the people standing around the cave.  The people parted and AJ started to walk towards the opening but he stopped when Kel’Ryn came out.

“Kel’ Ryn what are you doing here?” AJ asked a little stunned to see the Bishop of the Priest Covenant away from Pera.

“I was in town today meeting some friends; one of the Priests here retrieved me.” He said with a very soft spoken voice.  

“How is she can I see her?” AJ asked as he started walking towards the cave opening.  Kel’Ryn reached out his hand and stopped AJ by the arm.  He looked at the Bishop confused.

“King Alexander.” He said as AJ turned to look at him.  “I am sorry.”  AJ shook his head not wanting to hear the words.  “Queen Rayne has passed.”

“What?” Kevin said breathless, even Rayne gasped at the words.

“No” AJ said shaking his head.

“I know this will be hard to except it is why the Priest came and asked me.” He told AJ but AJ didn’t say anything he stood there shaking his head.

“What about Raising her?” Brian asked as he walked up to Kel’Ryn.  The Priest looked at Brian shocked to see him there.

“They tried all the way down here.” Kel’ Ryn told them.  “And even I tried.”

“No” AJ whimpered and everyone looked at him, including Rayne but her eyes never left him.

“Alex.” Kevin said as he walked up to his friend but AJ turned away and walked to the cave.  Without thinking twice Rayne picked up her skirt and followed him.

When she ran inside she stopped dead when she saw him pulling her body out of the water.  She could not remember him but when she saw AJ crying as he pulled her out, her heart ached for him.  Kel’Ryn protested and even his friend Kevin said something but he yelled at them in anger. It was so loud it made her jump.

“Am I…dead?” Rayne asked staring at her and AJ.

“Yes.” Her image replied. “Casting the spell to bring back his friends and Rexil throwing us across the room, I think we had passed before we even hit the table.”

“King Alexander I must ask that you stop this immediately.” Kel’Ryn demanded and Rayne watched as AJ pushed on her chest, breathed into her mouth, and then started pushing on her chest again.

“What is he doing?” Rayne asked.

“He’s around here some where but we never got the chance to ask him.” Her image said.  Rayne quickly looked back to her and AJ on the floor when she heard the crackle of a spell.

“That was his Lightning spell, a small dose of it, over our heart.” She told herself.  Rayne watched as she gasped for Air and Kel’Ryn rejoiced.  Rayne looked at AJ stunned, did he just, no he couldn’t have.

“He gave us life again.” Her image said.  “He loves us so much he did something no Mage should be able to do, he used the Elements to give us life.”  Her image stood in front of her.  “Dyn, Dyn tried to take it away.”

“I do not remember any of this.” Rayne said looking away.

“Because you lost your memory, ha, so you did lose something.” Her image said.

“Do you know how to get it back?” Rayne asked.

“No” Her image said with a frown.  “But maybe Rexil knows, since she took it.”

“Rexil is dead, Nickolas killed her.” Rayne said sadly.

“Really? Well that explains why she has not been around.”

“What, Rexil is here?” Rayne asked confused.

“At the Druid Park where she always is.” Her image said. 

Rayne didn’t say anything to the image of herself as she left the cave, past the people and out of the Springs.  Quickly she ran down the road and back onto the main street.  Running as fast as she could she made her way towards the Druid Park. 

The place was empty as she made her way up the front path and not even the lady who greeted everyone was there.  She walked down the hall to the Council room.  Stopping at the doors she waited and listened too see if there was anyone inside.  Carefully placing her hands on the door knobs she turned them and opened the doors. 

Rayne walked into the empty, quite room and slowly looked around.  Her footsteps echoed through out the room as she walked towards the center podium. 

“Rayne?” She heard a familiar voice say and she looked to her left.

“Nickolas, what are you doing here?” She asked.

“Dreaming?” Nick asked.  “I was taking a nap, since Alex is ok.”

“This makes no sense.” Rayne said looking away.

“You’re telling me.” Nick said with a smirk.  “Hey isn’t this that Druid court room.”

“Yes but this is my Phantasm I do not know why you are here.”

“What’s a Phan..Phan..whatever this place is.” Nick asked.

“It is a place where my spirit is free from me.” Rayne said.

“I’m not even going to try and understand.” Nick said with a sigh.  “What are you doing here?”

“Trying to find my memory.” Rayne said as she sat down on a bench.

“Oh.” Nick said remembering what happened at the Springs.

“Rexil was supposed to be here, she had my memory.” Rayne said with sadness.

“And you can’t get it from her now because…”

“Because she’s dead.” Rayne said finishing his sentence.

“Because I killed her.” Nick said realizing he could have messed up Rayne’s chances to get her memory back.

Rayne nodded with a sigh as she looked down at the ground.  Maybe it wasn’t so bad if she couldn’t get her memory back.  She saw how much Alex loved her, there was no denying now and perhaps if she opened up and got to know him again, she could love him again. 

The motion of something walking around made her look up and she saw Nick walking across the Council room.  He was heading over to the bookshelf, with intent on his face.

“Is everything alright?” Rayne asked him as she slowly stood up.

Nick said nothing as he skimmed along the line of books.  She looked at him confused as he mumbled to himself and then looked down thinking.  His head snapped up and he walked to the other side of the room.  Nick began to pull books from the shelf not paying any attention as they hit the floor.

“Here.” Nick said as he reached into the bookshelf and Rayne was surprised to see his arms went in much deeper than the shelf actually was.  She walked over to him as he pulled out a small crystal looking box.  “Is this it?” He asked.

“How did you?” She asked confused.

“Maybe that’s why I’m here and Rexil’s not.  I did drain her maybe I took your memory along with her energy.” Nick said as Rayne slowly took the box from him. “Don’t ask me how I know that.” He told her

When Rayne looked up Nick was gone and she wasn’t in the Council room anymore.  She was back by the Tree Castle where she first woke up here.  Looking back down at the box she watched as it glowed in her hands.

“You found it?” AJ said from behind her and she spun around.

“So you are here.” She said a little confused.

“Yeah, kind of new here, but I have a really good guide.” AJ said with a smile and a nod over her shoulder.  Rayne turned around and saw herself waving at them near the entrance to the Castle court yard.

“New here?” Rayne asked.

“Well if I get it right, this place holds everything that is apart of you, and I used some of my energy to save you, to bring you back, so now, I am apart of you too.”

“I understand.” She said with a light smile.

“Well you better get back with that.” He told her with a nod and a light point to the box in her hands.  “I really don’t wanna go back to Earth.”

“I know.” She smiled at him.  He smiled back at her and then walked over to the image of herself that had greeted her when she first got there but then stopped and turned around.

“One more thing.” He paused and she waited for him to continue. “Tell me about Dyn, tell me the truth, trust what we have and it’ll be ok.”

Rayne looked away and looked back down at the box.  With a deep breath she place one hand on top and pulled back on the lid.  The light inside got bright, so bright she had to close her eyes.  When she opened them again she was looking up at the clouds as they rolled by her.  She heard the chirping of birds in the trees around her and she slowly sat up like she had just awoken from a long nap.

“Rayne!” She heard his voice shout and she looked back to her Palace.  He was standing at the back doors, her Mother beside him and she took a deep breath as she slowly got to her feet.

“What are doing out here?” Her Mother asked as they walked up to her.  She then looked around and saw Rayne’s things on the ground.  “You did this by yourself, Rayne you know how dangerous that is, what if you got lost?”

“I knew the risks Mother.” Rayne said as she knelt down and began cleaning up.  She rolled up the bear pelt and brushed her hand along the sand, watching it scatter back into the ground. 

“You knew the risks?” Her Mother said angrily.  “I have lost you enough; I do not need to be worried that you are going off into that place without a guide to lead you.”

“And what about what I have lost.” Rayne snapped back and then she walked between the two of them, heading straight to the Palace.

“Rayne.” AJ said hoping to stop her but she didn’t and disappeared through the back door.

“Will you talk to her?” Halian asked.

“I’ll try but I might make it worse.” AJ said as he looked from her back to the doors.  Halian lightly smiled knowing he might be right but there was a small plea behind it.

AJ back tracked through the Palace, walking back up the stairs and back down the hall.  He had just come from here with Halian when they went to look for Rayne after what happened in the Springs.  When they went into her room and saw she wasn’t there they both began to worry.  Halian opened the window and looked out, that’s when she saw Rayne laying on the grass.

Stopping at her bedroom door he took a deep breath and then gently knocked.  There was nothing but silence so he took the knob, then turned it and pushed on the door.  It opened and as he pushed the door further, he saw her on her knees at her Druid chest putting her things away.  He closed the door and then walked over to her.

“When you told me what the Phantasm was you said that a Druid never, ever does it alone, the risk of getting lost without a guide...” He started to say but she stopped him.

“I had a guide.” She said not looking at him as she put the jar of sand away.

“But it was only you there.” AJ said confused.

“How could I get lost, if I already was lost?” She said as she finally looked up at him but he looked at her with confusion.  “I was my own guide.”

“You?” AJ said confused.

“The part of me that I had lost, the part of me that I couldn’t remember, she was my guide.” Rayne told him.

“And what did she show you?.” AJ asked. 

Rayne looked at him a moment and then stood up.  “She showed me you.”

“Me?” He said confused.

“She showed me when you saved me, when you raised me.” She told him. “If you can call it that.”

“Oh.” He said as he lightly nodded, his mind going back to that night.

“I do not understand.” Rayne said as she stepped in front of him.  “I mean I saw it, we were there, you…you pulled me from water.  You started pushing on my chest and breathing into my mouth.” She told him as she looked at him confused.  “You put your hand over my heart and then...” She stopped still in awe of what she saw, even now still not understanding how he saved her.

“And then I shocked it.” AJ said quietly.  “With my spell.”

“How did you know to do that?” She asked as she placed her hand on his arm.  He looked at her hand and then looked at her.

“Everyone’s heart has a little electricity in it, a small shock, sometimes if you can give it another small shot, it will start beating again.” AJ told her as she listened.

“Did you learn that on one of your all night trips to the Mage library?” She asked.

“Not here, it’s kind of how we do it back on Earth, but I didn’t have any paddles or anything.” He said cracking a small joke he knew she wouldn’t get.  Then his face fell with confusion.  “How do you know about the times I spent in the library?”

Rayne stood there a moment looking at him and then she wrapped her arms around him.  Slowly he let his arms wrap around her, still confused on what was going on but longing to have her back in his arms, even if she didn’t remember him. At that moment he didn’t care.

“I found what I was looking for.” She whispered.  As the words passed through his ears, his eyes shot open and he quickly pulled away.  He looked at her as her hands slid over his shoulders and down his arms.

“What do you mean?” He asked looking at her, looked into her eyes as they filled with tears.

“I am sorry I never told you about Dyn.” She said as one tear fell.  “I meant to, I never meant to betray you or anything like that, it was just.” She stopped and took a breath.  “At the time, it was just too hard.” She explained. “He showed up with Ignis, Ignis as my mother something I had just found out, He took Kevin and then…” Rayne stopped remembering seeing her Mother run her through with a sword.  “But I came back and you were there.  That night when I left the Springs, I know I said no but I never got a chance to explain.”

“Explain?” AJ wondered.

“When you asked me if I had felt the same way, I said no because at that point I knew what love was, the love you showed me.  When I saw him enter when you announced you were staying, I knew that wasn’t the Dyn I knew.  He told me about his fears of Tsa and Nati going to Pomic, he told me he was going with them and then he told me how he felt.”

“What did you say?” He asked.

“I told him that I loved him but I asked him to stop the distrust of his Father, he said nothing and left.  That was the last time I saw him until he walked into the Auditorium. I knew then the Dyn I knew was gone.”

“And when you went down to talk to him?” AJ asked

“We had just shared something special the night before.” She looked down at his hands as her fingers tangled in his and then looked back up at him. “When I went to talk to him I asked him why.” Rayne paused again.  “He was so angry at Marsa, I never got a chance to ask him but I think he saw it happen.  I realized he was lost and I realized there was no love and there was just doubt.”

“Doubt?”

“Did he really love me or was it just to get back at Marsa because he knew I was a Guardian.  A minute later he drags me through the Castle and onto the ship.” She stopped talking and closed her eyes. “And then it just didn’t matter anymore.”

Rayne pulled herself back into his arms.  “Please do not go Alex; I am sorry I did not tell you I really am.”

“Rayne” AJ said his voice stunned and confused.

 “I remember when I knew I loved you, and I remember what you did for me.” She said as her fingers drifted down his pointed ear. “We will deal with the people, they will see if was not you, I am sure they know it was not and those radicals are just fueling it.” She told him.

“What happen in the Springs, Rayne I…I was.”

“I know.” She said with a light smile.  “I can not imagine what you were going through and I did not help by going on about Dyn so much.” 

His eyes dotted around her face as his fingers drifted down her cheek and down her neck, resting on her shoulders.  He looked into her eyes and through the redness, the wet eyelashes and the tears themselves he saw love looking back at him.  He sighed in relief and then kissed her.